The sound is a result of vibration of wire due to wind. When airflow is separated from the wire (which is considered as a blunt body), a vortex pattern called Karman Vortex Streets is form in the flow separation region. The vortex street is highly periodic with frequency proportional to U/D, where U = air speed and D = diameter of the wire, it is this frequency that is responsible for the vibration of the wire.
Wow, this is awesome! I've never heard anything like this before in my life. And I learned today that power lines make sound... I would have guessed so from wind and such, but nothing of this kind...
See, this is exactly why i love youtube. Used to hunt on a powerline right-of-way. Before morning light the lines are near quiet. As people/businesses come alive you hear a steadily but very slow rate of increase in the arcing sound. Never asked anyone if it was just me. Now i know 'tis not. Line was prob 250kv+ Txu to dallas, tx i believe. Runs across Grannie's land!
This is strange. In Poland power lines tend to buzz like the 50Hz sound, or make cracking sounds because of the corona discharge. Never heard anything else.
Yes, some sounds can you hear just by standing in front of the pylon. But mostly the sound are picked up from the pole, or the line that holds up the pylon. The sound are also amplified, but you can hear the sound just by putting your ear on the pole(especially during winter).
Yes and no. A lot of wind can be heard on the recordings, but if you listen to the sound with headphones, you clearly hear sounds around 50 and 100hz. The reason for this is actually the current and the magnetic field is working together, making a mechanical power that in next turn makes the vibration. this vibration can be more or less damped. Also different poles gives different sound, because of the resonance.
This has been made into an instrument. Its called an aeolian harp. It has a number of differently tensioned strings that make harmonics together when vibrated by the wind. Very erie and almost fake sounding. But the sound of real power lines is really cool too. Its just a lot more quiet.
I freakin live there guys and it aint so disturbing because im used to it and i hear them every day its a peaceful town growth up from being a non special place in the middle of nowhere to being a town of 400 people and Porjus was born because of the Electicity that u could make outta the water falls there, and it was a spot to refill the old trains with water and fuel (cole) and it was only workers that lived there in the beggining but i grew to a popular tourist desination and a nice town.
The Sound you Hear is not the sound of Electricity...Rather your Hearing Vibrations induced by Wind Blowing over the Guy Wires,Lines,and the Structure itself.
This is amazing, what is more amazing is that this is the first video recorded using a potato. you can see the lack of pixels which is a signature trademark of a potato recording device.
Cool! I've heard transmission lines make that noise. For the ones with wooden towers, sometimes they would make a roaring sound and sometimes they would make a sizzling sound.
I used to go camping often in an area like this. You had to walk under high voltage lines like these in order to get there and they were always singing. No, it is not the wind. Also, it always seemed to be louder when the air was damp.
that is so cool, ty for taking the time, ahem,..and energy to record that,...so many current puns, not sure Watt made me say that but can't conductor serious conversation, oh that Hertz bad, I know. I can think of Amp 'le reasons to go on but alas I have an un-fared vantage....FF
The sounds in the first in the first couple of clips is the sound of the substation transfomers transmitted along the cables. The twanging sound in the last clip is the sound of the high-tension power cables and guy wires resonating.
If some of this sound remember you star wars or any other sciens fiction movie is not casualty , in the 80's I saw a tv program and they was showing how this sound effects was recorded and some of them are from power lines like this ones ,many thanks for this video and go a head with this job L.O.L. From London...
@backwoodsBrophil Spot on analogy. Interesting to to hear a slight resonance / flange sound sound from the structure. I expect one day some producer somewhere will find use for the sound effect. After all...... the laser sound in the star wars film was in fact created in a similar manner by sound engineers holding a microphone against the guy wires on a transmitter mast and then tapping them.
The magnetic field and the current causes the wires and the whole pylon to vibrate. If the current draw is high(in winter for example) or the wire dampers is old, this vibrations gets really strong.
They have attached a contact type mic to the actual tower structure similar to the effect of cupping your ear to a large flat cross section of the same tower. 99 percent of the sound being made is due to wind and other outside forces a low frequency hum is what you will hear from most all lines
Very interesting and where I am from we call them towers not poylons. And the 60HZ GRID IS VERY QUIET BUT IT CAN BE HEARD IN THE SUMMER BECAUSE OF THE HUMID WEATHER.
@backwoodsBrophil This sound has nothing to do with wind, I like to climb power line towers, the exact same sound is pretty loud near the top, and it gets louder and stronger during peak hours (when the load increases). And it's there even if there's absolutely no wind.
Cool!! Very interesting art piece. :-) Reminds you of how polluting electricity can be, for how clean it is compared to other forms of energy. This also must have been in summer, because if it's by the Arctic Circle and it's sunny and no snow on the ground, then...! :-)
I have never thought that we are hearing radio frequency sound, however, wind is an important part of the ambience, that is correct. But the electric and the magnetic field works together with the pole, making it vibrate, especially during the winter when the national power consumption is high. I actually have this vibration recorded on video. The tower resonation is maybe the most important part of the sound, acting like the body of a guitar.
He's right. If you were hearing electricity, you would be hearing a constant 60Hz buzzing. Power consumption does not fluctuate like that, nor would it get any louder if more electricity were being used. You are hearing nothing but the wind inducing vibrations in the lines....still a very erie sound indeed.
1:59 - 3:00 sounds really sinnister!! I've never really thought of the sounds the lines themselves make, im just used to the buzzing sound of the electricity, especially in damp conditions. Interesting.
He did not get any of that low hum and crackle, that was a neat sound from my summers. We had a creek that we went to to catch frogs and the power lines feeding north Chicago ran overhead. On a hot, humid day, the hum and crackle was pervasive.
hello people i am a lineman in romania,in this footage u can see a 500 kV powerline(in us)the sound in recorded in the last minute is from the resonation of those wires,but belive me in my carrer i newer heard that sounds, it's not a good sign...
The CD/MP3 will come in the near future. cant tell any details yet. However, MP3tracks will then be for sale online(at not to high prices), and - yes - the money will then go into the project. Big thanks to all of you that likes this sort of project.
All sound are mechanical vibration. However, the vibration comes from the current and the magnetic field, the wind, and sounds nearby the poles, like birds, cars or whatever.
Very cool and I wish I could do that myself in the USA it's 60 hz power so there is not much noise to the grid but what you have is 50 Hz power and it's way louder than the 60Hz Grid . Where can get the equipment to record it and I bet it is expensive?
A lot of disputed causes birth defects occur to those who live near these types of power lines. I wonder what we'll know in 20 years? BTW, great vid, great concept.
Dude, if I was up there alone on those stanchions (over here, that what those big metal hydro pole thingies are called) I would be shitting myself. Really cool, but at the same time also kind of freaky to listen to.....
Just like a slikny. The only time I have ever "heard" power lines is when I stand under them. 500-600kV lines make a nice sound that you don't have to use things to hear. you can hear the electricity in the air.
This is very interesting. Do you have a website or similar, would be interested what equipment you were using exactly - to do similar over here in the UK E
Around the 6:51 point you could hear a bouncing sound, similar to that of a slinky. I hear that on the power lines outside of my house some times, and just did about five minutes ago... Any idea why they make that sound?
Wow! This is awesome! Yeah, I agree some of the sounds could just be caused by the wind, causing vibrations in the lines and tower. But definitely the alternating current and magnetic field will also generate sounds like the hum you hear in a transformer (from vibrations in the core laminations). What frequency is used in Sweden? Standard frequency in the U.S. is 60hz.
at the begining this sounds similiar to what Jupiter emits, as recorded by NASA space probes, it's electromagnetic waves converted to audio frequencies...
i never knew the power lines sounded like this. Well, perhaps in Australia, theyre different but i usually hear a buzzing sound...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz great views nonetheless
Why does it sound like a horror movie? Our power lines next to the power plant make noise, but they don't have music. What doesn't sound like music and it just makes a humming?
I 'm curious to know why the pylons taper to a point at their base. It looks like the rigidity of the structure would be compromised. A very interesting video.
I've heard the same type of sound from low voltage telephone wires. It's the wind setting the wires in motion and just like on musical instruments that produces sound.
That IS NOT the sound of electricity; That's aeolian vibration caused by the wind over the wires. It can actually be quite destructive, which is why utilities install dampers on the wires near the insulators. Near a transformer, you can hear "electricity", or related magnetic forces at the rated frequency (60/50Hz), and you might here "crackling" from corona discharge on edges of bushings, but the video is simply aeolian vibration.
The sound is a result of vibration of wire due to wind. When airflow is separated from the wire (which is considered as a blunt body), a vortex pattern called Karman Vortex Streets is form in the flow separation region. The vortex street is highly periodic with frequency proportional to U/D, where U = air speed and D = diameter of the wire, it is this frequency that is responsible for the vibration of the wire.
It sounds like a scary sound from a horror movie!
This is really fascinating. I was reading about this stuff just the other day - I never realized that they could make these kinds of sounds.
Wow, this is awesome!
I've never heard anything like this before in my life.
And I learned today that power lines make sound... I would have guessed so from wind and such, but nothing of this kind...
I hear you singin' in the wire,
I can hear you through the whine
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line
-- "Wichita Lineman", Jimmy Webb, 1968
starguy2718 very nice
See, this is exactly why i love youtube. Used to hunt on a powerline right-of-way. Before morning light the lines are near quiet. As people/businesses come alive you hear a steadily but very slow rate of increase in the arcing sound. Never asked anyone if it was just me. Now i know 'tis not. Line was prob 250kv+ Txu to dallas, tx i believe. Runs across Grannie's land!
...and I really like the sounds, it has this eerie, almost musical feel to it.
Thank you very much for this explanation. Many people, working with this area, are claiming that the power lines cannot make this type of sounds.
This is strange. In Poland power lines tend to buzz like the 50Hz sound, or make cracking sounds because of the corona discharge. Never heard anything else.
5Dale65 I would like to hear that sound
We live next to a power grid and it makes this exact same sound. Spooky
do have 6 toes, too?
These sounds are supurb. Thank you
Yes, some sounds can you hear just by standing in front of the pylon. But mostly the sound are picked up from the pole, or the line that holds up the pylon. The sound are also amplified, but you can hear the sound just by putting your ear on the pole(especially during winter).
Yes and no. A lot of wind can be heard on the recordings, but if you listen to the sound with headphones, you clearly hear sounds around 50 and 100hz. The reason for this is actually the current and the magnetic field is working together, making a mechanical power that in next turn makes the vibration. this vibration can be more or less damped. Also different poles gives different sound, because of the resonance.
I thought I was weird when I loved listening to transformers an power lines as they buzz... Now I know I'm not the only one, thanks! :D
Very cool thanks. I could listen to that for hours..
All the sounds are really cool, futuristic sounds.
Very creative. Thanks
Weirdly fascinating, I loved it
This has been made into an instrument. Its called an aeolian harp. It has a number of differently tensioned strings that make harmonics together when vibrated by the wind. Very erie and almost fake sounding. But the sound of real power lines is really cool too. Its just a lot more quiet.
I freakin live there guys and it aint so disturbing because im used to it and i hear them every day its a peaceful town growth up from being a non special place in the middle of nowhere to being a town of 400 people and Porjus was born because of the Electicity that u could make outta the water falls there, and it was a spot to refill the old trains with water and fuel (cole) and it was only workers that lived there in the beggining but i grew to a popular tourist desination and a nice town.
The Sound you Hear is not the sound of Electricity...Rather your Hearing Vibrations induced by Wind Blowing over the Guy Wires,Lines,and the Structure itself.
This is amazing, what is more amazing is that this is the first video recorded using a potato. you can see the lack of pixels which is a signature trademark of a potato recording device.
This is awesome.
Fascinating.
amazing voices!
Music to my ears.
this is awsome.
Cool! I've heard transmission lines make that noise. For the ones with wooden towers, sometimes they would make a roaring sound and sometimes they would make a sizzling sound.
I used to go camping often in an area like this. You had to walk under high voltage lines like these in order to get there and they were always singing. No, it is not the wind. Also, it always seemed to be louder when the air was damp.
that is so cool, ty for taking the time, ahem,..and energy to record that,...so many current puns, not sure Watt made me say that but can't conductor serious conversation, oh that Hertz bad, I know. I can think of Amp 'le reasons to go on but alas I have an un-fared vantage....FF
The sounds in the first in the first couple of clips is the sound of the substation transfomers transmitted along the cables. The twanging sound in the last clip is the sound of the high-tension power cables and guy wires resonating.
If some of this sound remember you star wars or any other sciens fiction movie is not casualty , in the 80's I saw a tv program and they was showing how this sound effects was recorded and some of them are from power lines like this ones ,many thanks for this video and go a head with this job L.O.L. From London...
Crazy power line up to you
@backwoodsBrophil Spot on analogy. Interesting to to hear a slight resonance / flange sound sound from the structure. I expect one day some producer somewhere will find use for the sound effect.
After all...... the laser sound in the star wars film was in fact created in a similar manner by sound engineers holding a microphone against the guy wires on a transmitter mast and then tapping them.
that´s one of the most brutal ambient sounds i ever heard.
Very intresting.
The magnetic field and the current causes the wires and the whole pylon to vibrate. If the current draw is high(in winter for example) or the wire dampers is old, this vibrations gets really strong.
The lines, the lines are calling for me again...
I hear a similar sound from 132kV power lines in Australia. It happens when there is no wind. It sounds like a rattling noise.
They have attached a contact type mic to the actual tower structure similar to the effect of cupping your ear to a large flat cross section of the same tower.
99 percent of the sound being made is due to wind and other outside forces a low frequency hum is what you will hear from most all lines
this is truely awesome... check out the recordings of polar light sounds recorded as the output of a photopultiplier as well :)
know what's funny - I still remember and enjoy this video.
@@hardwarefulfunny how you came back to the comment after so many years
@@Emperor_Ultra it's the little things in life that bring joy :)
awesome
Very interesting and where I am from we call them towers not poylons. And the 60HZ GRID IS VERY QUIET BUT IT CAN BE HEARD IN THE SUMMER BECAUSE OF THE HUMID WEATHER.
that is some cool stuff, makes you think
@backwoodsBrophil
This sound has nothing to do with wind, I like to climb power line towers, the exact same sound is pretty loud near the top, and it gets louder and stronger during peak hours (when the load increases). And it's there even if there's absolutely no wind.
Cool!! Very interesting art piece. :-) Reminds you of how polluting electricity can be, for how clean it is compared to other forms of energy. This also must have been in summer, because if it's by the Arctic Circle and it's sunny and no snow on the ground, then...! :-)
That sounds spooky!
I have never thought that we are hearing radio frequency sound, however, wind is an important part of the ambience, that is correct. But the electric and the magnetic field works together with the pole, making it vibrate, especially during the winter when the national power consumption is high. I actually have this vibration recorded on video. The tower resonation is maybe the most important part of the sound, acting like the body of a guitar.
He's right. If you were hearing electricity, you would be hearing a constant 60Hz buzzing. Power consumption does not fluctuate like that, nor would it get any louder if more electricity were being used. You are hearing nothing but the wind inducing vibrations in the lines....still a very erie sound indeed.
1:59 - 3:00 sounds really sinnister!! I've never really thought of the sounds the lines themselves make, im just used to the buzzing sound of the electricity, especially in damp conditions. Interesting.
i can feel myself getting cancer just from watching this video...
He did not get any of that low hum and crackle, that was a neat sound from my summers. We had a creek that we went to to catch frogs and the power lines feeding north Chicago ran overhead. On a hot, humid day, the hum and crackle was pervasive.
awesoome
hello people
i am a lineman in romania,in this footage u can see a 500 kV powerline(in us)the sound in recorded in the last minute is from the resonation of those wires,but belive me in my carrer i newer heard that sounds,
it's not a good sign...
You are going to understand it 10 years later.
The CD/MP3 will come in the near future. cant tell any details yet. However, MP3tracks will then be for sale online(at not to high prices), and - yes - the money will then go into the project.
Big thanks to all of you that likes this sort of project.
All sound are mechanical vibration. However, the vibration comes from the current and the magnetic field, the wind, and sounds nearby the poles, like birds, cars or whatever.
Very cool and I wish I could do that myself in the USA it's 60 hz power so there is not much noise to the grid but what you have is 50 Hz power and it's way louder than the 60Hz Grid . Where can get the equipment to record it and I bet it is expensive?
Serial Experiments Lain, anyone?
underrated comment!
if you are near high voltage powerlines when it rains you can hear the electricity arking to the rain ,but this sounds way more interesting
Talking about brutal industrial ambient!
A lot of disputed causes birth defects occur to those who live near these types of power lines. I wonder what we'll know in 20 years? BTW, great vid, great concept.
well interesting
yeah! I friend of mine, who work as a brain scientist, are making some research in that area.
Dude, if I was up there alone on those stanchions (over here, that what those big metal hydro pole thingies are called) I would be shitting myself. Really cool, but at the same time also kind of freaky to listen to.....
Its the sound of your internal organs frying...
this sound would of been great in the movie: the langoliers by stephen king
:D
wow!
No the pylon is the huge steel structure that supports the lines.
mostly yeah, depends on what the cycle it is. 60 Hz is usually what it is. But yeah its pretty much what it sounds like
Yes. there is someone, here on youtube, that demonstrates that phenomena. It´s scary!
sounds a lot like some of the engineered sound recording of explorer satellites when they get near Jupiter and Saturn
Just like a slikny. The only time I have ever "heard" power lines is when I stand under them. 500-600kV lines make a nice sound that you don't have to use things to hear. you can hear the electricity in the air.
Question is,would it sound like that if the power line was on the ground and not on a power pole.Power pole would be like a tuning fork?.Just saying
Wow! Judging the size of the transmission lines and the tower - must be 765,000 volts..
bei uns in der Nähe geht so eine krebserregende Smog-Leitung genau unter einer LIDL-Filiale durch. da würd ich erst mit 70 Jahren evtl. jobben!
nice.... next time you go there carry a flouroscent light at night it will light up in your hand unconnected to anything
This is very interesting. Do you have a website or similar, would be interested what equipment you were using exactly - to do similar over here in the UK
E
FREAKY!!
Around the 6:51 point you could hear a bouncing sound, similar to that of a slinky. I hear that on the power lines outside of my house some times, and just did about five minutes ago... Any idea why they make that sound?
Anna Tritchonis that's because of wind hitting the cable and making it oscillate
"around the 6:51 point" :D
Thank you 3spooky5me-HACKS !!!
i tell ya these aint nothin compared to the ones near my place
Wow! This is awesome! Yeah, I agree some of the sounds could just be caused by the wind, causing vibrations in the lines and tower. But definitely the alternating current and magnetic field will also generate sounds like the hum you hear in a transformer (from vibrations in the core laminations). What frequency is used in Sweden? Standard frequency in the U.S. is 60hz.
Worng in summer time you can hear high voltages from the humity in the air not the tenson.
sounds creepy, heigtening sense of fear
at the begining this sounds similiar to what Jupiter emits, as recorded by NASA space probes, it's electromagnetic waves converted to audio frequencies...
i never knew the power lines sounded like this. Well, perhaps in Australia, theyre different but i usually hear a buzzing sound...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
great views nonetheless
wait can someone explain how these are recorded?? i have been close to these and i cant hear that what makes it so u can?
No, they are played at normal speed. However i think it would be more interesting to play them at higher speed.
Why does it sound like a horror movie? Our power lines next to the power plant make noise, but they don't have music. What doesn't sound like music and it just makes a humming?
I 'm curious to know why the pylons taper to a point at their base. It looks like the rigidity of the structure would be compromised. A very interesting video.
I've heard the same type of sound from low voltage telephone wires. It's the wind setting the wires in motion and just like on musical instruments that produces sound.
No Way!! That is freaky... its like death is waiting..
That IS NOT the sound of electricity; That's aeolian vibration caused by the wind over the wires. It can actually be quite destructive, which is why utilities install dampers on the wires near the insulators. Near a transformer, you can hear "electricity", or related magnetic forces at the rated frequency (60/50Hz), and you might here "crackling" from corona discharge on edges of bushings, but the video is simply aeolian vibration.
How much of that is wind blowing across the wires?
scary sounds,but i still like electricity and especialy high voltage
including low rates at marriott hotels. I work for marriott reservations and book tva rates all the time
@backwoodsBrophil you can hear humming amongst wind at the beggining on my speakers, but that's the only bit
It's a Y-Wing.
They sound like this because of the wind vibrating them. It has basically nothing to do with the voltage or current.
the Harspranget, Arjang and Barseback power line hums ain't working at your site :(